Tensioning device for ski bindings



Oct. 18, 1966 H. MARKER TENSIONING DEVICE FOR SKI BINDINGS 2Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 6, 1964 FIG. 2

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Oct. 18, 1966 H. MARKER TENSIONING DEVICE FOR SKI BINDINGS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1964 FIG. 5

FIG. 4

wi IV HH Orne ys' United States Patent O 3,279,809 TENSIONING DEVICE FORSKI BINDINGS Hannes Marker, 37 Alpspitzstrasse,

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Filed Mar. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 349,939

Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 15, 1963 M 56,142 Claims.(Cl. 280-1135) In the known front tighteners for ski bindings, arelatively long threaded bolt extends forwardly from the bracket whichis movable in the longitudinal direction of the ski and carries thetightener lever. This bolt extends through a retaining bracket securedto the ski and is supported against the retaining bracket by a nut inthreaded engagement with the bolt. A screwed adjustment of 4the nutenables an adjustment of the tightener in the longitudinal direction ofthe ski for adjustment of the binding to different shoe sizes ordifferent cable tensions.

The known tighteners have various disadvantages. It is very difficultand in many cases impossible to turn the nut on the :adjusting boltmerely with the fingers when it is very cold, particularly when snow orice adhere to the tightener. Besides, the threaded bolt is fairlysusceptible to external action, such as impact or the like, which isoften inevitable during skiing and the manipulation lof the skis. Whenthe threaded bolt is only slightly bent or when a single thread turn has.been squeezed, the adjusting bolt can no longer serve its function.Continual shakes, such as occur when the skis are being carried on aluggage carrier on the roof of a car, may result in an unintendedrotation of the nut so that the setting of the tightener is varied orthe nut may even be lost. Besides, the adjustment of the knowntighteners is relatively troublesome, particularly when a relativelylarge adjustment, e.g., by a plurality of shoe .sizes is required.

In a front tightener for ski bindings, in which the tightener lever ispivoted to a bracket, which is adjustable in the longitudinal directionof the ski, and from which bracket an adjusting element extendsforwardly, which bears on a retaining bracket secured to the ski, thesedisadvantages are avoided according to the invention in that theadjusting element has a number of supporting discs or the like, whichare capable of a limited displacement on the adjusting element in theaxial direction of the latter, and th-at the adjusting element has atits front end an abutment, the retaining .bracket is provided with agroove having a width which is larger than the diameter of the:adjusting element and smaller than the diameter of the supportingdiscs, and the retaining bracket is further provided with means fordetachably retaining the adjusting element. In a development of theinvention, the `adjusting element may consist of a wire cable and carry:at its front end a supporting nipple. It is particularly suitable ifthe supporting discs are do'uble-frustoconical and that wall of theretaining bracket which is at right angles to the longitudinal directionof the ski and formed with the groove has a frustoconical recess latleast on its front face. A helical compression spring may be disposedbetween the rearmost supporting disc and the bracket which carries thetightener lever.

It is apparent that the supporting discs mounted on the adjustingelement for .a limited movement co-act with the retaining bracket toenable a particularly simple adjust-ment of the position of thetightener in the longitudinal direction of the ski. A prolonged turningof a mitted from the tightener to the retaining bracket by fice elementwith the supporting discs may be removed from the groove `of theretaining Vbracket and may be inserted into the same at any desiredother point. As :a result, two adjacent supporting discs will be forcedapart and the tensile force exerted upon the tightener will betransmitted from the tightener to the retaining bracket by means of theadjusting element, its front abutment, and the supporting discs disposedbetween the front abutment and the retaining bracket. This force willlbe effective as a compressive force between the abutment and theretaining bracket. As the supporting discs m-ay have any desiredthickness, an adjustment in very line steps is enabled without involvingan increase in the time required for adjustment. The susceptiblethreaded bolt, which can no longer be operated by hand after theslightest damage, has been eliminated. A spontaneous change of thesetting as a result of shakes and the like is no longer possible.Besides, the assembly is greatly facilitated because the retainingIbracket can easily be mounted as a separate part of the tightener.

lf the adjusting element consists of a wire cable, which carries asupporting nipple at its front end, any damage to the adjusting elementwill be virtually precluded because the element can yield to anyexternal action. The flexibility of the wire cable greatly facilitatesits removal from and insertion into the retaining bracket. The Hexibledesign of the adjusting element has the further advantage that any icecovering which may have formed will readily be broken during theadjustment. If the supporting discs are double-frustoconical, as hasbeen mentioned above, zand that wall of the retaining bracket which isformed with the groove has a Afrustoconical recess, a particularlysimple retention of that supporting disc which engages the bracket willbe achieved. During the insertion into the groove, the supporting discsmust be widely spaced apart and will then snap into the recess which isprovided at least on the front face so that the discs can no longerdetach spontaneously, particularly if the ab-ove-mentioned helicalcompression spring is arranged between the rearmost supporting disc andthe bracket which carries the tightener lever.

In a development of the invention, successive groups of supporting discsmay have different features. These different features may consist, e.g.,of different colors, different forms of the rims, or the like, andgreatly facilitate the adjustment because they result in a cleararrangement Vof the entire .adjusting range. The various groups maycorrespond each, e.g., to a shoe size.

The wire cable may have at its rear end a cylindrical nipple, which canbe introduced through a corresponding opening of the bracket whichcarries the tightener lever into a guide bore, which is formed in thisbracket and the front end -of which is provided with a constriction forretaining the nipple. In this way, a reliable retention of the adjustingelement on the tighener bracket is ensured in such a manner that theadjusting element is parallel to the axis. The bracket which carries thetightener lever need not be guided on the ski. If it is not guided, itsbottom face has suitably rearwardly flaring extensions. Alternatively,the bracket carrying the tightener lever may ybe guided in known mannerin a sliding guide secured to the ski.

Finally, the returning bracket may con-tain according to the invention aspring-loaded detent ball, which coacts with a longitudinal grooveformed in the inner side wall of the tightener lever so that thetightener lever is effectively locked against an unintended opening.

Further features of the invention will be explained hereinafter withreference to the drawing, which shows an embodiment by way of example.ln the drawing FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the front tighteneraccording to the invention in closed position.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the tightener of FIG. l the retainingbracket below the tightener lever being indicated by broken lines.

FIG. 3 shows the front tightener according to the invention in a partlyopen condition.

FIG. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on line IV-IV of FIG. 5 andshowing the retaining tbracket and a portion of the adjusting elementwith the supporting discs shortly before their insertion in-to -theretaining bracket and in the supporting position on the retainingbracket.

FIG. 5 shows the retaining bracket in an elevation taken in thelongitudinal direction of the ski.

FIG. 6 illustrates plan views of typical shapes for the supportingelements which may be used for coding.

FIG. 7 lillustrates a section taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 1.

Pivoted to the tightener lever 1 is a yokelike tension member 2, whichcarries the tension cable 3. The tightener lever 1 is pivoted by a pin 4to a bracket 5. In the closed position of the tightener, the pin 4 liesabove the pivot points 6 of the tension element 2. In the embodimentshown by way of example, the bracket 5 shown in broken lines in FIG. 2has a supporting surface, which ilares rearwardly in triangularconfiguration and is not connected lto the ski by screws or the like.Alternatively, the bracket 5 may be guided in a sliding guide 23 knownper se.

The bracket 5 has an open-topped opening 7, which opens into a verticalgroove in the front face of the bracket 5. This groove is not apparentfrom the drawing. The opening 7 has a borelike portion, which is formedwith a oonstricted front end and accommodates a nipple 8 carrying aexible steel wire cable 9. The cable 9'is provided at its front end witha supporting nipple lil. Supporting discs 11 are arranged on the cable 9like beads on a string. This means that the discs are not connected toeach other. The discs are urged forwardly towards the supporting nipple11i by a helical spring 13, which is provided between the bracket 5 andthe rearmost supporting d-isc 12, which is reinforced. As is apparentfrom the drawing, each group of four supporting discs 11 dilers in colorfrom the succeeding group of tour.

For the adjustment of the front tightener in the longitudinal directionof the ski, the double-frustoconical supporting discs 11 of theadjusting element 9 co-act with a retaining Ibracket 14, which issecured to the ski 16 by the screws 15. The retaining bracket 14consists of a baseplate 17, an intermediate wall 18, which is at rightlangles to the longitudinal direction of the ski, and -two triangularside walls 19. The wall 18 has frustoconical recesses on lboth sides, asis shown particularly in the sectional view of FIG. 4. The wall 1S has agroove 20, which extends from the top beyond the center of thefrustoconical recess. The upper portion of the wall 18 tapers to acutting edge 2.1.

When it is ydesired to secure the front tightener .to the bearingbracket 14 'by locking the cable 9 at the supporting discs 11, thelatter are first laid on the cutting edge 21 at the selected point, asis shown at the top in FIG. 4. In response to pressure exerted in thedirection of the arrow 22, the cutting edge 21 will then force twoyadjacent supporting discs 11 apart and the supporting dfiscs disposedbetween the wall 18 and the br-acket 5 will be moved rearwardly againstthe pressure of the spring 13. As soon as the adjusting cable 9 with thesupporting discs 11 has been moved suiiiciently downwardly, thedouble-frustooonical supporting discs 11 snap under the pressure of thespring 13 into the frustoconical recesses in the wall 18. The adjustingcable 9 is now reliab-ly anchored to the retaining bracket 14 and cantbe detached from it only by a strong upward pull in conjunction with acompression of the helical compression spring 13.

FIG. 6 illustrates typical shapes for the supporting elements, thecircular shape Ebeing the preferred embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a means whereby the tightening lever may be locked inthe closed position. This locking means comprises a detent ball mountedin the retaining bracket directed outwardly to one side thereof. Acorresponding innerside wall of the lever is provided with a groovewhich looacts with the detent ball.

It -is readily apparent that the position of the front tighteneraccording to the invention on the ski can be adjusted in a parti-cularlysimple and space-saving manner. The overall height of the tightener isless than that of the previously known tighteners. The manufacture ofthe tightener is extremely inexpensive. The entire length of thetightener lever 1 may be utilized for the adjusting range. As a result,the tightener is of universal application and may even \be used fordifferent shoe Sizes, particularly for hired skis. The cable 9 can beinserted into the bracket 5 in any desired length, which may even exceedthe length of the tightener lever 1. In this fcase the cable 9 with thesupporting discs 11 and the supporting nipple 10 protrudes forwardlybeyond the tightener lever 1.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive .property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A front tightener for ski bindings comprising a bracket which isadjustable in the longitudinal direction of the ski, a tightener leverpivotedly mounted on said bracket to move in the longitudinal directionof the ski, a flexible wire cable attached at one end -to and extendingforwardly of said bracket, a retaining bracket secured to said ski at apoint spaced forwardly of said adjustable bracket, a number ofsupporting elements mounted on said wire cable to Ihave limitedlongitudinal displacement, an abutment at the front end of said wirecable, a groove in said retaining bracket having a width which is largerthan the diameter of the wire cable and smaller than the diameter of thesupporting elements, 'said retaining bracket detachably retaining saidwire cable.

2. A front t'ightener for ski bindings according to claim 1 wherein saidsupporting elements are doublefrusto -conical discs and said retainingbracket is lat right angles to the longitudinal direction of the skiwith said groove formed transversely therein and having a frusto-conicalrecess on at least its forward face.

3. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 2 wherein ahelical compression spring is mounted on said wire cable between therear-most supporting element and said adjustable bracket.

4. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 1 where-insuccessive groups of the supporting elements have distinctivecharacteristics.

5. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 4 wherein thesuccessive groups of said supporting elements are color coded.

6. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 4 wherein thesuccessive groups of said supporting elements are coded by varying theirshape.

7. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 1 wherein saidwire cable has at one end a cylindrical nipple which can be extendedthrough a corresponding opening and guide bore in the adjustable bracketwith the front end of said bore -being constructed for retaining saidnipple.-

8. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 1 wherein saidadjustable bracket rests freely on the ski and is preferably providedwith rearwardly liaring extensions.

9. A front tightener for ski bindings according to claim 1 wherein theadjustable bracket received by and 5 6 slidably guided in a guide whichis rigidly secured to FOREIGN PATENTS Sald'skl- 183,362 10/1955 Austria.

10. A front tightener for ski bindings according t0 1034 245 8/1953France. claim 1 wherein a spring loaded detent ball is provided1,249,415 11 /1960 France. in the retaining bracket and coacts with alfmgimdna'1 5 J199,976 12/ 1938 Switzerland. groove in an innerside Wallof the tightener lever. I OTHER REFERENCES References Cited by theExaminer Ess German application 1,092,821, printed Nov. 10,

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1960.

2,522,303 9/1950 Schlyttel 280--11.35 10 2,550,018 4/1951 Morrison eta1. 24-71 BENJAMIN HERSH Primary Examiner 2,742,299 4/1956 Voster2230-1135 MILTON L. SMITH, Examiner.

1. A FRONT TIGHTENER FOR SKI BINDINGS COMPRISING A BRACKET WHICH ISADJUSTABLE IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE SKI, TIGHTENER LEVERPIVOTEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID BRACKET TO MOVE IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTIONOF THE SKI, A FLEXIBLE WIRE CABLE ATTACHED AT ONE END TO AND EXTENDINGFORWARDLY OF SAID BRACKET, A RETAINING BRACKET SECURED TO SAID SKI AT APOINT SPACED FORWARDLY OF SAID ADJUSTABLE BRACKET, A NUMBER OFSUPPORTING ELEMENTS MOUNTED ON SAID WIRE CABLE TO HAVE LIMITEDLONGITUDINAL DISPLACEMENT, AN ABUTMENT AT THE FRONT END OF SAID WIRECABLE, A GROOVE IN SAID RETAINING BRACKET HAVING A WIDTH WHICH IS LARGERTHAN THE DIAMETER OF THE WIRE CABLE AND SMALLER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THESUPPORTING ELCMENTS, SAID RETAINING BRACKET DETACHABLY RETAINING SAIDWIRE CABLE.